


Take Me Out to Dinner Like You Did Last Week

by Chash



Series: Charity Drive 2017 [4]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-02-08
Packaged: 2018-09-23 00:19:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9631367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chash/pseuds/Chash
Summary: Bellamy knows that people assume he and Clarke are dating. It happens all the time. He's used to it.What he's not expecting is, first, to see her at the gaming store where Miller is running his new D&D game, and, second, to have everyone in there think he's dating her. Because shetold them.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bethanyactually](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bethanyactually/gifts).



After years of Octavia making fun of him, and Miller making fun of him, and Raven making fun of him, and basically everyone he knows making fun of him, Bellamy is used to people thinking he's dating Clarke. They have the kind of friendship that's easy to mistake for romance, in that they're close, and spend a lot of time together, and people have stupid, heterocentric assumptions about male/female relationships like theirs.

And he's kind of in love with her. But he's pretty sure people would make the assumption even if he wasn't in love with her, so that's beside the point. People assume he's dating his sister when they go grocery shopping together; heteronormativity is a hell of a drug.

So _this must be your girlfriend_ is a common phrase in his life, and he's gotten pretty good at either gracefully denying it or just going with it, depending on how involved the conversation is and whether or not he's ever going to see the person again. And, if anyone had asked him, he would have assumed Clarke was just as good at those conversations. She definitely has them all the time too.

What he wouldn't have assumed was that there was actually a group of people Clarke _purposefully_ misled about her relationship status. But, in retrospect, it maybe should have occurred to him.

It starts on a Tuesday, when he asks her, "You're busy Thursdays, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Miller's starting a D&D campaign and he's looking for people. I figured you might want in."

She hums. "Probably not. That's Magic night, and I don't want to start going to the Sunday game. I like Sunday for shopping."

"Yeah, I figured. Let me know if you change your mind."

"Will do. Live text me fun D&D stuff."

"Will do."

It doesn't feel like a particularly important conversation at the time. Clarke's Magic: The Gathering habit is something she talks about fairly rarely, probably because a lot of people are dicks about it, but she enjoys the game and plays it on a weekly basis, and he knows she values it.

He's pretty sure he even theoretically knew she played at a game store, but it somehow didn't occur to him that it might be the same game store where Miller was running the D&D game. Which is definitely on him. He should have considered that.

But he didn't, so the sight of Clarke in the store on Thursday is a total surprise. A nice one, but still.

She's seated with a group of guys, but there's a free seat next to her and he's early, so he slides into it.

"Hey," he says, giving her a smile. "It really didn't occur to me that you played Magic _here_."

She jumps. "Jesus, Bellamy, you scared the shit out of me!"

"That's what I go for, yeah."

"Dick," she says, fond, and then she meets his eye for half a second, just _barely_ , with an expression he can't read, and kisses him.

The kiss doesn't last much longer than the look, just a dry, brief press of lips, a peck of greeting, and he doesn't let himself look poleaxed, because she obviously has a plan and he doesn't want to fuck it up.

"Hi," she says, giving him a dazzling smile when she pulls back. "So, Miller isn't running his game at his apartment."

"Nope."

"I guess that makes sense." She turns her attention back to the guys she's playing with. "Sorry about that. My boyfriend, Bellamy. Apparently he's here for D&D. Bellamy, this is Jasper, Monty, Myles, Cage, and Roan."

"Hi," he says, with a dorky wave. Clarke's going to explain, at some point. He can go with it until she does. "Nice to meet you guys."

There's a chorus of welcomes, and Clarke turns her attention back to him. "When's your game?"

"Seven."

"Oh, so that's the one Monty and Jasper are in. Cool." She checks her phone. "Did you eat?"

"No, I wanted to make sure I found the place first."

"I figured." She scoops up her cards. "I'm going to take him to dinner, but I'll see you guys for the tournament. Monty, you better win this one."

The kid salutes, Bellamy gives them all another wave, and he and Clarke head out of the store and toward the food court in silence.

Once they're an acceptable distance from the store, she says, "Sorry!"

"How'd that happen?" he settles on. It's a fairly neutral question. Not giving anything away.

"I like those guys, mostly. Myles is kind of over-enthusiastic and Cage is a fucking asshole, but everyone else is pretty cool. But they don't have a lot of girls who are regulars, and they were--you know how some guys won't listen to _no_ unless another guy says it?"

He makes a face. "Yeah."

"So I just told them I had a boyfriend. I wanted to go with girlfriend, but I would have felt gross pretending to be a lesbian, and if I said bi they probably would have asked for a threesome, so--"

"How did I end up being the boyfriend?"

She bumps his shoulder. "I text you all the time and you're in all my stories. As soon as I said I was taken, they were like, I _knew_ Bellamy was your boyfriend."

That makes him smile. He knows exactly how that one goes. "Yeah, that sounds right."

"I'm really sorry, I didn't think you'd ever show up."

He shrugs. "Really not a big deal. If those guys are in Miller's game, I should text him so he knows, but I assume I don't have to do anything special. What are my duties? I've never been anyone's fake boyfriend for more than about ten minutes."

"Nothing much. We're not going to be hanging out or anything. Kissing is--it felt like what I'd do if I wasn't expecting to see you, you don't have to--"

"Not a big deal," he says. It's probably true. "Don't worry about it."

"Thank you. I really didn't think this was ever going to come up."

He wraps his arm around her shoulder and gives her a quick squeeze. "You can pay for my dinner, and then we're even."

*

 **Me** : I need you to pretend Clarke is my girlfriend

 **Miller** : Isn't she?

 **Me** : I'm serious  
She's a regular at this game store where we're playing D&D  
She told them I was her boyfriend so she wouldn't get hit on  
So just go with it okay

 **Miller** : Wouldn't it be easier if you just told her you wanted to marry her?  
Then she'd have a ring

 **Me** : Thanks for your support

 **Miller** : I got u

*

It's not hard, pretending to be Clarke's boyfriend for a few hours a week, largely because he doesn't have to do anything out of the ordinary. They're not actually spending time together at the game store: he's in the back room playing D&D, she's in the front for the Magic tournament. When he gets to the store, he'll find her, and sometimes give her a kiss, sometimes not.

Mostly he does, since she doesn't seem to mind.

They grab dinner, and he hangs out with her until his game starts, and while he's playing, she comes up now and then in conversation, like his sister does. If he finishes before she does, he'll wait for her to head home, since they're going the same direction, and she does the same. 

It's exactly what he would do if she hadn't told her friends here that they were dating, minus the kissing, so it's hard to even feel like it's a big deal. If anything, it kind of sucks that it _doesn't_ feel like a bigger deal. He's supposedly dating Clarke Griffin for a few hours a week, and the only benefit he's reaping is an occasional peck on the lips.

He's also pathetic, but that's not news. 

After about a month of this, though, Miller decides he wants to try to get a real social life. Which Bellamy sees through in roughly five second, because Miller only ever wants to do shit if he thinks it might get him laid. So he's got a thing for Monty, which is cute, and Monty works at the game store, which means Miller wants to go to the game store more, which means they start doing things there. As a group.

The big thing is Saturday board game night. Miller correctly identifies that as his best shot for Monty interaction, since he's the store rep who works it, and it's an easy sell for the rest of their friend group, too. After all, it's drinking and board games, and they're all into that. Bellamy's certainly into that.

The dating issue doesn't actually occur to him at all. It's for Monty's benefit, sort of, but he thinks of it as a Thursday thing, not a Monty thing. So when Clarke says she's coming to his place beforehand so they can go over together, he doesn't think anything of it. He assumes she just wants to steal his beer to pregame.

But her opener is, "We need a backstory."

"Hello to you too," he says, stepping out of the way to let her in. "Backstory?"

"Monty's best friend is Jasper, so Jasper's going to be there. Probably some other people I know. Myles loves board games. This is the first time they'll see us really being _together_ , so they're probably going to ask about, you know. Us."

He blinks a few times, and then he figures it out. "Oh. We're dating," he says, and she wilts.

"Sorry, I just--assumed. That's probably weird. Monty's cool, if we told him, he'd--"

"No, it's fine," he says, too quickly. Monty _is_ cool, he definitely wouldn't be hitting on Clarke regardless. But there's Jasper, and Myles, and fucking _Cage_ , who looks at Bellamy like he thinks both that Clarke can do better and that he would be better, even though he's a gross asshole. If they stop acting like they're dating for one person, it could spiral, and that would suck.

And it's not like it's _hard_.

"So, backstory?" he says.

"Just how we got together. In case anyone asks. I figure we can mostly tell the truth, but--"

But Bellamy has been trying to figure out how to upgrade their relationship from friendship to more for years, and he has no idea how he'd actually do it. If she has any ideas, he's totally open to them.

"Yeah, you're probably right. How we met is fine, everything else. But we need a dating story."

"Nothing fancy, right?" she says. "We're pretty laid back. I figure it can go two ways: sweet or drunk."

He snorts. "Those are your options?"

"It's not like we're romance people."

"Hey, fuck you, I'm very romantic."

"Wow, yeah. You really sold me with that one." But her smile goes soft. "I didn't mean it in a bad way. I wouldn't want you to sweep me off my feet or anything. That would be weird. Just--casual."

"Is that the sweet option or the drunk option?" he asks.

"Both, I guess. Sweet is, you know. We're watching Netflix together, like always, and then it just kind of happens."

" _It_ being?" he asks. "Netflix and chill always felt like it was missing some steps to me."

"Just--we start snuggling, and then we start touching, and then kissing," she says. She's blushing a little, which is--awesome. And a little terrifying. "That's the one that'll make everyone think we're cute."

"Okay. And drunk?"

"We're out drinking and hook up and there's like a week of awkwardness while we're both trying to figure out if it was a fluke or for real or what, and we finally have a conversation and start dating."

"Yeah, those are both pretty plausible," he says, and tries not to flush himself. They _are_ things people could do. They're things that he'd do, if he somehow figured out the step between being close to Clarke and kissing Clarke. And she's right that it sounds a lot more plausible than some big gesture. Casual and easy, that's them.

"Who started it?" he asks.

"Hm?"

"I'd do sweet, you'd do drunk," he says, and that makes her laugh.

"Yeah, you're right. Flip for it?"

He calls tails and gets it, so he kissed her while they were watching _Planet Earth_ last year, and they've been happily dating ever since. Clarke doesn't say anything else about his conduct, which is kind of simultaneously reassuring and depressing. Apparently she trusts him to just come across as her boyfriend, and she thinks what he's been doing so far is fine.

It's entirely possible that literally the only thing in his life that wouldn change if he was actually dating Clarke would be how much he got laid. And if that was it, he'd be fucking _thrilled_. He doesn't really need anything else.

But fake-dating at the bar isn't bad.

They texted Octavia, Raven, Wells, and Miller while they were on the train to warn them about the plan, and they were all polite enough to laugh at him in private messages, instead of replying to the group text. And Clarke seems to have a few texts he doesn't see either, so he gets to hope that Raven and Wells are making fun of her too. But if they are, Clarke shows no signs of it. They show up together, settle in next to each other in the booth, and order drinks.

It's all totally normal, until Monty suggests a six-person game, and Jasper crams in next to Clarke, and Clarke tucks herself right into his side and starts _snuggling_. Sitting close is normal, but every time she comes back from taking her turn, she settles into him like she's planning to live there, and he gets to have his arm around her and nuzzle her hair periodically.

He'll never live it down, and it just _keeps going_ , week after week. It just gets worse, because Monty and Miller are working to dating, and Raven develops this weird thing for Roan, Clarke's Magic buddy who manages the Claire's next to the game store with a frankly disturbing zeal, and suddenly his social life is full of people who think he and Clarke _are_ dating, instead of just thinking they _should be_ dating, which doesn't feel nearly as incorrect as it used to.

Because, honestly, Bellamy's involved in the relationship, and he's starting to have trouble figuring out what's going on with them. He always thought they would be dating if Clarke wanted to, and her lack of romantic interest in him was what was holding him back. But he's more and more convinced he just has to _ask_ , and apparently the real problem is that he has no idea how to do that.

Which he knew, deep down. He's not a coward, but--Clarke's the best thing in his life, not close. It's hard to convince himself even the possibility of fucking that up is worth it.

But the more time he spends pretending to date Clarke, the harder it is to really believe that he'd be fucking anything up. Increasingly, he feels like everyone was right, and he's just kind of an idiot.

It's not news, but at least the end of the idiocy might finally be in sight. So there's that.

*

Miller texts him the Sunday after he leaves board-game night with Monty for the first time with the final nail in the coffin.

 **Miller** : Monty called Clarke out on not really dating you like two weeks after you guys met  
FYI

 **Me** : Uh, okay  
Why?

 **Miller** : Apparently he was never convinced  
He gets the whole fake boyfriend for protection thing  
So he asked

 **Me** : Good for him

 **Miller** : He also said she didn't have to do it and he'd kick anyone out who ever hit on her  
So she could skip the faking thing, since it was probably a pain with you around  
She said it was great, and then they high-fived on how hot you are  
End of anecdote  
Related, I'm not getting you a birthday present this year  
Have fun

He stares at the messages for a minute, sends a quick, _thanks, yeah_ , and then asks Clarke if she wants to come hang out after she finishes grocery shopping.

Which she does. Because he's an _idiot_. But so is she. It's not like she's been making a move on him either. They've been co-idiots.

"They were selling girl-scout cookies at the store, so I got you some. Lemonades, right? I can't believe you don't like Thin Mints."

He smiles, helpless. "Mint is gross, Clarke. If you want to eat something that tastes like toothpaste, I'm not going to stop you, but you're own your own."

"More for me." She cocks her head. "Lonely?"

"It's almost like I like spending time with you."

"Almost." She flops down on the couch. "I'm kind of curious about _A Series of Unfortunate Events_ , any interest?"

"Not today. I actually got _Planet Earth II_. I had a lot of unanswered questions after the first one."

If she gets the significance of the choice, she shows no sign of it, just laughs. "Yeah, it was a real cliffhanger at the end of the season. Are we getting pizza?"

"I might cook. We can see how it goes."

"I vote for you cooking," she says, and doesn't blink an eye when he sits closer than he usually does on the couch. "You're a lot better than pizza."

"That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said about me," he says, and starts the show.

Bellamy would believe that there are people who can do things without thinking about it. He's heard people say that something _just happened_ , has read books where protagonists say things out loud without realizing they're speaking. He believes these are true experiences, and not just a sign of plausible deniability. 

He just can't be the kind of person who isn't aware of himself, basically all the time. He doesn't unconsciously move closer to Clarke; he is endlessly, inescapably aware of moving closer to her. Which doesn't mean he's not doing it, just that it feels incredibly awkward and obvious.

But Clarke goes to the bathroom and sits back down directly in his personal space, so there's no way she minds. 

He lets his arm settle around her shoulder, and she leans her head against him, and he's pretty sure neither of them has any idea what's happened in this episode, like, at all.

"This is the part people always skip," he points out. "Snuggling, touching, kissing. That progression is really not intuitive to me."

She laughs, ducking her face to hide it against his shirt. "You think way too much, you know that?"

"Yeah, I really do."

When she looks back up, he leans down, and the kiss is still soft, in spite of everything, because he's still not _sure_ , in spite of everything. But she sits up, moving so her head's at a better angle and they can keep going. 

He's kissed her at least a dozen times, in the last few months, but it was always fast and chaste and felt like he was getting away with something. This time, she's pressing back into him, anchoring her hands in his shirt, as if she thinks that if she doesn't, he might leave it with a quick peck.

He'd tease her, but then he'd have to stop kissing her, which defeats the purpose of the whole thing. All he wants to do is kiss her.

Well, okay, not _all_ he wants to do. But he could be happy with just that for a long time, just the press of her mouth, her hands relaxing and sliding over his body, unsure where to settle, the small noises he's sure she doesn't know she's making as he tugs her into his lap.

"Clarke," he manages, soft, breathless, slightly awed, and that he really _didn't_ think about. That's the limit of his brain power, apparently. Kissing Clarke Griffin will put him on autopilot.

She laughs and buries her face against his neck. "You know, I wasn't attached to hooking up during _Planet Earth_."

"Yeah, but this way it's romantic. And I didn't have any better ideas. It's not like I ever came up with a better way to make a move in the last three years. Thanks for giving me some options."

"I was doing all the work there." She kisses his neck, making him shiver. "What did it?"

"Miller said Monty already knew we weren't dating and you told him you didn't want to stop." He pause. "And I've been in love with you for three years."

"Oh." She looks back at him, biting back on her grin. "Well, it was fun, right?"

He kisses her again, long and deep, until he almost forgets the question. But when she smiles, he does too. "I'd rather be your boyfriend than pretend to be your boyfriend. I assume there are benefits."

"A couple." She worries her lip. "You know I'm in love with you too, right?"

"I do, yeah," he says, amazed that it's true. He was so sure. "But I don't mind hearing it anyway."

*

On Thursday, Bellamy sits down in the free seat next to Clarke, gives her a quick kiss, and smiles. "Hey."

"Hey. I'm going to win this game in like five minutes and then we can grab dinner?"

"You are not, fuck you," says Jasper.

"I totally am," she tells him.

"I believe you. Dinner in five."

He gets his phone out and picks up reading his ebook while Clarke plays, and it's exactly what would have happened last week, before they were dating. Except when they leave, he's going to get off the train at her stop, instead of going the two extra to his place.

So, yeah. He wouldn't change a thing.


End file.
